Look Into Players' Welfare, Ismail Tells Sports Bodies
KUANTAN, April 27 (Bernama) -- Sports bodies, especially football associations, have been urged to look into the welfare of their players to prevent corruption seeping into the country's sports.
In making the call, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob said at present there were sports associations which did not manage players' salaries well to the point of making their lives difficult.
"I find players not being paid, so how are they to live?" he told reporters after closing the National Paintball League championship here Sunday.
He was commenting on the possibility of corruption rearing its head again following delays by football associations in paying their players' salaries.
Expressing disappointment on the corruption issue, he said his ministry had aided the country's sports associations with allocations to develop sports.
Ismail, however, said if an association failed in looking after the welfare of its players, bribes should not be the way out of the problem for players.
Meanwhile, he said his ministry had not received any report on the involvement of players from other states except Sarawak.
"We have not received any more reports from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) on the corruption issue and we will meet them on the matter," he said.
Ismail expressed confidence that the special committee set up by the FAM to investigate the matter will be able clean up football from the scrouge of corruption.
On another matter, he said his ministry will set up more facilities for paintball which he said not only boosted physical and mental abilities but also built team spirit.
However, he said it depended on the public's response in view of the high cost of participating in the sport.
-- BERNAMA
Malaysia Go Down 0-3 To Ireland
KUALA LUMPUR, April 27 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian women's hockey squad who opened their Olympic qualifying round campaign today went down 0-3 to Ireland at Victoria University, Victoria, Canada Sunday.
Ranked 24th in the world, Malaysia kept the marauding Irish at bay until the 21st minute when goalkeeper Ernawati Mahmud failed to parry Clare Parkhill's shot from a penalty corner.
Malaysia had hardly regained their composure when Ireland increased their lead from another penalty corner converted by Eimear Cregan in the 30th minute.
Ireland sealed Malaysia's fate in the 40th minute when Cathy McKean scored from another penalty corner, according to the Women's Hockey Olympic Qualifying Round website.
Malaysia found their rhythm in the second half but failed to convert any goals.
Earlier, ninth ranked South Korea whitewashed Uruguay 10-0 while Italy edged host Canada 2-1.
Tomorrow, Malaysia will take on South Korea, Ireland face Canada and Uruguay meet Italy.
The top two teams will book their tickets to the Beijing Olympics in August.
-- BERNAMA
Suspension Not The Solution
By Dan Guen Chin
JOHOR BAHARU, April 27(Bernama)-- Suspension of tournaments in the wake of the latest bribery allegations surrounding Malaysian football, is not the proper thing to do.
Instead the FA of Malaysia (FAM), as the controlling body of football, should take a good look at themselves and ask what they need to do to combat and expose the so called guilty ones who are giving Malaysian football a bad image.
"But suspending tournaments is not the right answer. Bribery scandals have hit the Singapore and Vietnamese League before. But do their parent bodies suspend the league and tournaments.
"No they don't do so. Football must continue. Why deprive the innocent parties the chance to go about their livelihood. Why deprive the fans the oppurtunity to watch football and support their favourite teams, " asked the former secretary general of FAM Datuk Seri Ibrahim Saad.
Speaking to Bernama in a telephone call from Mecca where he is performing the Umrah, Ibrahim, who is also a vice-president of the Olympic Council of Malaysia, admmitted that there will always be bad hats in any industry.
There has been suggestions within the adminstration of the FAM that the oldest domestic competition, the Malaysia Cup and also the Inter-Continental Cup, a gathering of eight National teams, for a tournmament in Kuala Lumpur next month, should be suspended pending further investigations of the bribery scandal, which has rocked the Malaysian League lately.
"Because of a few bad hats, do we have to close down an entire industry? I believe human beings are always tempted by the desire to earn more money.
"Some believe in doing it the proper way but others would choose to take the easy way out.
"If we take the drastic step of suspending competitions what would the football world think of us. That our law enforcement agencies are not good enough to tackle the bribery situation.
"Generally speaking, surveillance, enforcement and harsher punishment are the ideal steps we can take to minimise the bribery problem," added Ibrahim.
-- BERNAMA
New Approaches Needed To Stamp Out Bribery - Tengku Abdullah
KUANTAN, April 27 (Bernama) -- Former Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said new approaches are needed to stamp out bribery in football.
He urged all quarters to wait for the investigation into the latest bribery allegations involving the sport be completed before taking any action.
"Newpaper reports said that the match-fixing was prompted by late wages. We must check whether it was the fault of players, associations or other parties," he told reporters here Sunday.
Tengku Abdullah said the bribery scandal was more complex than the last one because the Internet could be used to destroy the image of football not only in Malaysia but also in Europe.
As such, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and police must be more proactive in investigating football bribery as the method of operation has changed.
"We must not only look at Malaysian football alone but at the network as an international network may be at work. My only worry is that this disease will spread as a neighbouring country is said to be directly involved in the latest scandal," he added.
-- BERNAMA
Ministry To Develop Medal-winning Sports
TEMERLOH, April 27 (Bernama) -- The Youth and Sports Ministry is to focus on the development of those sports which can win medals for the country though they may not be popular among the people.
Minister Datuk Ismail Sabri Yaakob said sports such as shooting, archery and lawn bowls could win medals for the country at international meets despite being unpopular among the people.
"Our archery team ranks seventh in the world but not many people in the country are engaged in this sport," he said at a meet-the-people session here Saturday night.
He said the nation's athletes had all along participated in popular sports such as football and hockey in the international arena, where winning medals was difficult.
Ismail Sabri said lack of physical strength was one of the reasons for the nation's athletes to fare badly against their counterparts from other countries in these sports.
"It is a different thing altogether in sports such as archery and shooting because the athletes do not have to be overly dependent on physical strength but build up their skills in handling the sports equipment," he said.
As such, he said, the ministry would focus on developing these sports at the level of the grassroots.
The ministry had set up an executive committee to identify sporting talents in these sports at the primary school level, he added.
Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri said the ministry would build more multipurpose courts in every parliamentary constituency beginning June, with each constituency having four or five of these courts where badminton, futsal and netball can be played.
He also said that sports associations must emphasise discipline in athletes to prevent them from taking bribes.
-- BERNAMA
IOC puji kemampuan Beijing
BEIJING: Pegawai Olimpik menegaskan atlit terbaik dunia akan memperoleh Sukan Olimpik tahap tertinggi di Beijing Ogos ini, walaupun terdapat kontroversi yang menyelubungi temasya sukan itu.
Jawatankuasa Penganjur Beijing melakukan persiapan untuk temasya sukan itu sejak tujuh tahun lalu, dan mendapat pujian daripada Majlis Olimpik Antarabangsa (IOC) yang berpangkalan di Switzerland.
Di sebalik beberapa kontroversi menyelubungi larian obor, Beijing masih dalam jangkauan untuk menganjurkan Olimpik tahap tinggi menurut pegawai kanan IOC dan pegawai Jawatankuasa Penganjur.
“Terdapat banyak sebab untuk percaya persembahan pingat emas mampu diberi mereka dan seluruh dunia akan menyaksikan penganjuran Sukan Olimpik dan Paralimpik yang baik,” kata pegawai kanan IOC, Hein Verbruggen ketika melawat Beijing awal bulan ini.
Atlit dan pegawai sukan melawat Beijing untuk mengambil bahagian dalam 42 acara ujian dalam masa beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini dan kagum dengan stadium baru yang terdapat di ibu negara China itu, terutama gelanggang renang, Water Cube dan juga stadium utama yang dikenali sebagai ‘Sarang Burung’.
Ketegangan antarabangsa berhubung isu Tibet dan dasar lain China termasuk Darfur, hak asasi manusia dan kebebasan beragama tidak akan mengalih perhatian Jawatankuasa Penganjur untuk persediaan Sukan Olimpik, kata Presiden IOC, Jacques Rogge. - AFP
Masalah tiada gaji dorong pemain terbabit rasuah: Zolkples
KEGAGALAN beberapa persatuan bola sepak negeri melunaskan pembayaran gaji pemain dilihat sebagai antara faktor yang boleh mendorong pemain membabitkan diri dengan gejala rasuah yang kini kembali menyelubungi bola sepak negara.
Ketua Pengarah Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN), Datuk Zolkples Embong, berkata persatuan bola sepak negeri tidak wajar menabur janji manis kepada pemain dengan tawaran lumayan semata-mata untuk memperoleh khidmat mereka tetapi akhirnya gagal menunaikannya.
"Masalah ini harus diatasi terlebih dulu jika tidak mungkin kita boleh lupakan saja mengenai bola sepak," kata Zolkples.
Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia (FAM) sebelum ini meletakkan had gaji bagi pemain, namun kebanyakan negeri dan kelab tidak mematuhi had gaji itu dan kerap menawarkan bayaran 'bawah meja' kepada pemain tanpa sebarang kontrak.
Kerap kali janji untuk bayaran bawah meja itu tidak ditunaikan sesetengah negeri dan kelab tetapi pemain pula tidak dapat menuntut hak mereka kerana ia tidak termaktub dalam kontrak gaji yang ditandatangani.
Akhirnya, ia pasti membuka kemungkinan kepada pemain untuk menerima sumber kewangan lain yang mampu mengatasi ketiadaan bayaran bawah meja yang dijanjikan pasukannya.
Zolkples juga menyuarakan sokongannya terhadap tindakan segera yang diambil FAM menangani gejala itu, dan juga memberi sokongan kepada badan induk bola sepak negara itu jika ia perlu mengambil langkah drastik termasuk menangguhkan pertandingan Piala Malaysia musim ini.
"Jika FAM merasakan tindakan menangguhkan Piala Malaysia adalah langkah terbaik menangani masalah ini, mungkin ia terpaksa dilakukan kerana bola sepak negara memerlukan pembersihan menyeluruh daripada gejala rasuah.
"Kini, nampaknya bookie-bookie sudah semakin berani dengan mendekati pemain pasukan Polis, walaupun kebanyakan pemain pasukan itu bukan anggota polis ia tetap menggambarkan mereka kini seolah-olah mencabar pihak berkuasa.
"Saya amat berharap gejala ini akan dapat diatasi segera. Tetapi ia juga memerlukan kerjasama semua pihak dan tidak adil jika FAM dibiarkan keseorangan mengharungi kemelut ini, " katanya.
'Kembali urus bola cara amatur'
Oleh Lukman Salleh
Kos pengurusan lebih rendah, pemain mempunyai jaminan masa depan: Mazlan
GEJALA rasuah bola sepak yang berulang memberi petunjuk jelas Liga Semi-Pro yang diperkenalkan pada 1989 dan kemudian Profesional sepenuhnya pada 1994 gagal mengangkat martabat sukan ini serta membanteras wabak mengatur keputusan perlawanan.
Bekas Ketua Pengarah Majlis Sukan Negara (MSN), Datuk Wira Mazlan Ahmad, berkata hanya ada satu langkah untuk memulihkan bola sepak negara iaitu kembali semua kepada era amatur.
"Selepas gejala rasuah bola sepak kembali dibongkar, saya semakin yakin Persatuan Bola Sepak Malaysia (FAM), perlu kembali kepada liga amatur," kata Mazlan mengulas mengenai pendedahan rasuah bola sepak yang melanda liga tempatan ketika ini.
"Selepas lebih sedekad diperkenalkan, apakah kebaikan liga profesional? Pasukan kebangsaan tidak menunjukkan banyak peningkatan, gejala rasuah berleluasa dan tampak tiada kesudahannya.
"FAM perlu bertanya pada diri sendiri ataupun membuat kajian sama ada perlu dikekalkan liga profesional ini atau mengambil tindakan drastik kembali ke liga amatur. Bagi saya kita tidak perlu berasa malu untuk kembali kepada era amatur.
"Mungkin orang akan berkata kita kembali ke belakang dengan tindakan ini dan malu untuk berbuat demikian, tetapi apakah kita tidak berasa malu dengan gejala rasuah yang melanda bola sepak Malaysia?," kata Mazlan.
Tokoh sukan tanah air itu berkata sejak Liga Profesional diperkenalkan timbul banyak masalah terutama membabitkan soal kewangan dengan persatuan negeri atau kelab bergantung sepenuhnya kepada geran tahunan FAM untuk menampung perbelanjaan mereka.
"FAM tidak boleh dipersalahkan semata-mata kerana persatuan negeri juga harus bertanggungjawab," kata Mazlan. "Bagi saya jika kita kembali kepada amatur, kos pengurusan lebih rendah dan pemain pula mempunyai jaminan masa depan kerana mempunyai pekerjaan dan bola sepak hanya sebagai aktiviti sampingan.
"Dalam Liga Profesional pemain perlu memikirkan masa depan mereka dan jika mereka tidak memiliki pendirian tegas mungkin mudah untuk dipengaruhi bookie. Selain itu, gaji yang lewat juga menyumbang kepada masalah ini.
"Kita seperti tidak belajar daripada apa yang berlaku pada 1994 apabila ramai pemain ditahan, digantung dan dikenakan tindakan Kediaman Terhad kerana terbabit dengan rasuah bola sepak. Kita anggap masalah itu sudah selesai.
"Tetapi, nyata andaian itu meleset sama sekali dengan rasuah bola sepak kembali menular. Sekarang ini kita perlu melihat keadaan liga profesional kita dengan lebih serius," kata Mazlan.
Sportcheck: Complete sweep by Kenyans
Alvis Kipruto (left) and Margerat Wangui won the the men’s and women’s categories respectively. — Pic: HASAN ISMAIL
KENYANS led a sweep of the men and women's open events of the Power Run 2008 at Dataran Merdeka yesterday.
Bungei, 28, finished two seconds ahead of Wilson Songok, who in turn was two seconds ahead of third-placed Daniel Muenia.
"The course was a bit a hilly, there were a lot of climbs. It was also rather hot but that did not matter as I ran a well-planned race," said Bungei, who took home RM1,000 for his effort.
Margerat Wangui Njuguna of Kenya won the women's 10km race in 40:24 as compatriots Esther Kabura Ngungi and Lucy Kurgat finished second and third respectively.
Former national long distance ace M. Ramachandran finished second in the men's junior veteran category in 38:35, behind Frenchman Jean Pierre Lautredoux, who clocked 35:10.
"These days I only run for fun. I am more focused on coaching as I am helping the Malacca distance runners prepare for the Malaysia Games (in Terengganu) next month," said Ramanchandran, 42.
Ramachandran also took a swipe at the presence of so many Kenyans which prevented Malaysians from featuring among the winners in the top categories.
"Nobody is doing anything about it. The local runners have been challenged to try to beat the Kenyans but all that they (the Kenyans) do is go from race to race and win everything while depriving the locals of a chance," he said, adding that he was also saddened there is no emerging talent to take over the baton as Malaysia's top distance runner.
RESULTS -- Men's Open: 1 Aluis Kiproto Bungei (Ken) 33:12; 2 Wilson Songok (Ken) 33:14; 3 Daniel Muenia (Ken) 33:16.
Junior Veterans: 1 Jean Pierre Lautredoux (Fra) 35:10; 2 M. Ramachandran (Mas) 38:35; 3 G, Supermaniam (Mas) 39:38.
Junior: 1 M. Arvintha Kumar (Bdr Utama) 26:22; 2 K. Niventhen (Kg Jawa, Klang) 26:53: 3 B. Girivasan (Kg Jawa, Klang) 27:52.
Women's Open: 1 Margerat Wangui Njuguna (Ken) 40:24; 2 Esther Kabura Ngungi (Ken) 40:48; 3 Lucy Kurgat (Ken) 41:17.
Junior: 1 Selena Helen Vincent (Sel) 35:26; 2 Wong Mei Chin (KL) 35:56; 3 S. Premalatha (KL) 36:39.
Badminton: Kim Hock: Stop the squabbling
Kim Hock wants the players to put aside their differences and concentrate on the Thomas Cup
NATIONAL chief coach Yap Kim Hock has told all shuttlers to put aside their grouses when the Thomas/Uber Cup Finals centralised training starts today in Bukit Jalil.
"I'm not saying that the shuttlers are not united now, I'm just stating that their relationship would be better by training together," said Kim Hock on Saturday.
Centralised training ends on May 1 and the contingent will then move to Port Dickson the following day for team building till May 4.
The shuttlers will regroup again in Bukit Jalil on May 5-7 for the final phase of training before leaving for Jakarta on May 8. The Thomas/Uber Cup Finals will be played in the Indonesian capital on May 11-18.
Currently, Lee Chong Wei, Hafiz Hashim and Wong Mew Choo, together with the 2010-2012 Project squad, train at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara under Misbun Sidek while the others are under Rexy Mainaky and Wong Tat Meng and are based in Bukit Jalil.
Malaysia's Thomas Cup team comprise of Chong Wei, Wong Choong Hann, Hafiz, Arif Latif, Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Booh Heong and Zakry Latif-Fairuzizuan Tazari and have been drawn with South Korea and England in Group C.
Malaysia need to win the group in order to avoid Indonesia in the quarter-finals.
Mew Choo will spearhead Malaysia's charge in the Uber Cup together with Julia Wong, Lydia Cheah, Tee Jing Yi, Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui, Lim Pek Siah-Ng Hui Lin and Goh Liu Ying-Wong Khe Wei. They have been drawn in Group Y with Denmark and New Zealand.
Kim Hock said he was optimistic Malaysia would reache the semi-finals of both the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup.
MSSM review: Brutal scheduling!
Selangor’s Yap Harn Xin (right) and Ng Hui Ern lost to Kuala Lumpur’s Flora Ng and Nur Hani 21-23, 20-22 in the girls’ doubles final on Saturday.
ONLY in Malaysia could a multi-event sports carnival featuring eight sports over disparate venues be squeezed into five days.
Football and hockey players were forced into action twice a day, some squash players were playing as many as six matches in three days, while in athletics there were instances when athletes appeared in as many as five events in a jam-packed programme that ended on Saturday.
Such was the need for MSSM to finish its schedule on time that bowling and sepaktakraw continued until near or past midnight on some days with those very same athletes in action again the next morning.
Talk about super-human effort.
Only athletics featured the three age-groups of Under-18, Under-15 and Under-12 with the other sports limited to just Under-18, leaving the prospect of added expenditure being incurred for the other age groups at a later date.
But what MSSM failed to take into consideration is the welfare of the athletes who had to rise above the scheduling chaos to be at their best.
The squash individual finalists had to play their quarter-final matches late on Wednesday before having to rise at 6am on Thursday for the semi-finals two hours later followed by the final at 11am.
That is even before taking to the court again for the evening team preliminaries which continued all of Friday until the semi-finals stage before concluding on Saturday morning.
Hockey, held at three venues, too turned into a mockery which saw teams playing the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final inside of 24 hours with the MSSM more concerned with protocol, T-shirts, souvenirs and five-star accommodation than the sport itself.
The five-day schedule saw the boys and girls play their quarter-finals on Friday morning, the semi-finals in the evening before the final on Saturday morning, under a scorching sun over a non-standard 60 minutes.
The organisers of badminton at least had the sense of stretching the tournament to five days with players only requiring to play more than once a day on Thursday when the second round and quarter-finals were held,
But a number of shuttlers played both singles and doubles leading to some jaded performances during the later rounds.
It was no surprise that with the exception of boys' singles winner Iskandar Zulkarnain, the Under-18 championships hardly had any exceptional talent on show this time.
However, there were some encouraging performances in athletics -- 11 records were broken -- but one wonders if there could have been more if the scheduling had been less brutal.
Bowling: Esther shouts out her comeback
Esther finished 22nd out of 339 bowlers at the Queens Championships after the first block on Saturday.
ESTHER Cheah signalled a return to competitive bowling with a world class performance when she finished as Asia's top performer after the first block of the US$200,000 (RM640,000) USBC Queens Championships at the 60-lane Super Bowl in Detroit on Saturday.
Esther, whose father is national coach Holloway Cheah, is studying psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and her performance in Detroit is considered all the more impressive as she has not been bowling competitively since winning three gold medals in the Korat Sea Games.
The Malaysian was also barred from representing her university in the United States inter-college bowling league as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) considers her a professional.
Teammate Zandra Aziela and Sharon Koh were also the second and third best Asian performers after the first block.
Siti Safiyah finished 56th on 994 followed by Choy Poh Lai (194th -- 910).
Team United States' bowler Shannon Pluhowsky and Jennifer Murphy share the lead with identical scores of 1,132 followed with Manfy Wilson (1,130). The bowlers were completing the second block late yesterday.
The top 100 bowlers after the completion of the second block, will proceed to bowl another block of five games with scores carried forward to decide the top 63, who will then, with defending champion Kelly Kulick, be engaged in a three-game knockout matchplay.
Olympic watch: High hopes for China medal sweep
China's 110m hurdles Olympic gold medallist and world record holder Liu Xiang is one of a few of China’s athletes who will have a realistic chance of striking gold in the Beijing Games in August.
BEIJING: China can emerge from the Beijing Olympics as the dominant world sporting power, although they are unlikely to make waves in blue riband events such as athletics and swimming.
They will also be aiming to add to the tally in lower profile disciplines such as canoeing, boxing, beach volleyball and synchronised swimming.
In Athens four years ago, China finished with 32 gold, 17 silver and 14 bronze medals to end second behind America.
In the drive to beat that mark and satisfy nationalist pride, the host nation are expected to field almost 600 athletes in August -- up from the 407 they sent to Greece.
"This is the first Olympics where our athletes are competing at home and they face a whole new competition environment and a whole series of difficulties never encountered before," he told state media this month.
"The gap between China's competitors' performances in swimming and athletics and those of foreign competitors is vast," he said.
Cui is right about athletics and swimming. Only defending 110m hurdles champion Liu Xiang and London marathon winner Zhou Chunxiu have a realistic chance of seeing the China flag hoisted in honour of a gold medal.
Apart from them, Zhang Wenxiu is seen an outside chance in the women's hammer throw after taking bronze at the World Championships in Japan last year.
For hurdler Liu, the first man from China to secure an Olympic athletics gold when he won in Athens, the pressure couldn't be greater.
Not only is he expected to win, but his hundreds of millions of fans will be looking for him to break his own world record.
His coach, Sun Haiping revealed, last year that it was all or nothing for the superstar athlete.
"Officials from the State General Administration of Sports once told us if Liu could not win a gold in Beijing, all of his previous achievements would become meaningless," Sun said.
With China's dismal showing at the National Swimming Championships this month, where just two Asian records were broken, few of the 32 gold up for grabs in the Olympic pool are expected to end up in China's hands.
With the United States and Australia set to dominate once again, hopes will hang on Wu Peng, who claimed silver in the 200m butterfly at last year's World Championships.
"We have the confidence to do our best, but we really have no specific event that will be able to produce a gold medal at the Beijing Games," said head coach Zhang Yadong.
Where China will almost certainly chalk up success is through their paddlers and shuttlers.
China are the dominant table tennis nation and with the likes of men's World Nos 1 and 2, Wang Hao and Ma Lin, in action, and top-ranked Zhang Yining and Guo Yue on the women's side, a medal frenzy is almost guaranteed.
Golden couple Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang will carry China's hopes on the badminton courts, while the diving team will aim to top their six gold from nine medals at Athens.
A sport that China could surprise in is boxing. At the Asian Games in Doha in 2006, they shocked world heavyweights Kazakhstan and Thailand by bagging two gold medals through Zou Shiming (light flyweight) and Hu Qing (lightweight).
They were China's first top podium finishes since Bai Chongguang won the Asian light-heavyweight title in 1990 and bodes well for August.
Other medal chances should come in women's weightlifting and shooting. -- AFP
Badminton: Kim Hock hopes stint in PD will build up team confidence and unity
By RAJES PAUL
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia have a handful of first-timers in their teams for the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals, which will be held in Jakarta from May 11-18.
And chief coach Yap Kim Hock hopes that the debutants will not turn out to be the weak links in the bids to reach at least the semi-finals of both the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup competitions.
Kim Hock is hoping that a three-day team-building camp in Port Dickson from May 2-4 will do the trick to build up the team's confidence and also unity among the players. Both the men's and women's teams for the Finals will begin centralised training in Bukit Jalil today.
“Most of the first-timers are youngsters. But they have showed that they have quality in their games. We, the coaches and their team-mates, must inject confidence in them. These players must believe that they can also rise to the occasion,” he said.
Those making their debuts in the Thomas Cup Finals are Mohd Arif Abdul Latif and doubles players Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif and Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari.
The others in the team are Lee Chong Wei, Wong Choong Hann, Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah and Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong.
Kien Keat and Boon Heong will be playing in the Finals for the first time as a pair. In the previous Finals in Japan two years ago, Kien Keat partnered Chan Chong Ming while Boon Heong was the reserve doubles player together with Chew Choon Eng.
For the Uber Cup, Wong Mew Choo, Julia Wong and Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty were in the team when Malaysia last made the Finals in Jakarta in 2004.
The others in the team for the Finals this time are Lim Pek Siah, Lydia Cheah, Tee Jing Yee, Ng Hui Lin, Goh Liu Ying and Woon Khe Wei.
Pek Siah has vast experience but was not in the team for the 2004 Finals because she had quit the national team to join professional outfit KLRC Bhd.
“When we start the centralised training tomorrow, all the players will train together in Bukit Jalil in the morning but the coaches have been given the permissions to have their own programmes, court or physical training, in the afternoon,” said Kim Hock.
“That is why I consider the three-day camp in Port Dickson as a very important platform to strengthen team unity and self-confidence. There will be no badminton during this three-day camp. The debutants and experienced players will get to mingle and motivate each other.”
Malaysia last won the Thomas Cup in 1992 in Kuala Lumpur. The best result for the women's team in the Uber Cup was a quarter-final appearance in Jakarta in 2004 when they qualified for the Finals on merit for the first time.
Bowling: Esther on a roll in Queens meet
By RAJES PAUL
PETALING JAYA: United States-based bowler Esther Cheah emerged as Malaysia's top performer on the opening day of the USBC Queens tournament at the Super Bowl in Michigan on Saturday.
Esther, who arrived on the eve of the tournament from Nebraska, where she is studying, scorched the lanes with lines of 225-192-188-216-232 for a five-game total of 1,053 in the first block. She was placed 10th in a 163-competitor field.
Zandra Aziela Ibrahim Hakimi came in at 20th spot (1,021) followed by Sharon Koh (24th – 1,014) and Siti Safiyah Amirah (33rd – 994).
Choy Poh Lai was placed 96th on 910 and her challenge could end after the second block. Only the top 100 after the second block advance to play in the next block of five games. The top 63 will then battle it out in the elimination round.
National chief coach Holloway Cheah said that the bowlers had a good workout at the USBC women's championships at the same venue last week.
This league tournament for the American professionals will go on until July.
“They bowled for few days and I was happy with their results. The main tournament for them is the Queens and I am happy that all five bowlers are through to the second block,” said Holloway.
It will be tougher in the Queens as the US have all their top bowlers in the fray, including Kelly Kulick, Diandra Asbaty, Linda Barnes, Shannon Pluhowsky, Wendy Macpherson, Shannon O Keefe.
Meanwhile, Shalin Zulkifli, Wendy Chai and Zatil Iman Abdul Ghani, who chose to skip the Queens, will begin their campaign in the World Ranking Masters in Indonesia on Friday.
Equestrian: Kedah-Bali endurance circuit in the works
JITRA: Northern Corridor Promotions (NCP), the organisers of the Royal Kedah International Endurance Ride 2008, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with PT Strategy Komunikasi Utama (SKU) of Indonesia to promote a joint Kedah-Bali Endurance Ride circuit next year.
NCP managing director Jasni Shafie said that the MoU promised an exciting future for equestrian sport and tourism.
He said that NCP and SKU, the Jakarta-based promoters for the Bali International Ride, had agreed in principle to work to promote equestrian rides in Indonesia and Kedah.
“We have agreed to reciprocate to enlist riders to participate in each other’s country next year,” said Jasni after signing the MoU at the Darulaman Golf and Country Club here yesterday.
“Mudy Astuti, the SKU general manager who signed the MoU, has agreed to bring riders from Indonesia to participate in the Kedah International Endurance Ride in March or April 2009 and we will in turn round up Malaysian riders for the Bali International Ride sometime in June or July next year.”
Norman calls again for golf to be included in the Olympics
SHANGHAI: Former world number one Greg Norman yesterday called again for golf to be included in the Olympics, saying it would be due recognition of the sport's global appeal.
The Australian two-time British Open winner has been a long-time campaigner for the Olympic movement to embrace golf, and backs a model that would see nations field teams made up of professionals and amateurs.
“I had hoped to have played in the Olympics. That is a long time past me but hopefully other players will have the chance to experience it,” Norman, 53, said after carding a one-under 71 on the final day of the BMW Asian Open here.
“The game of golf is truly played on a global basis.
“It is played by all races and it is played on every continent.”
Norman said there were about 50 or 60 million people around the world who played golf.
“If you think about male and females professionals as well as the amateurs the game of golf canvases a lot of people,” he said.
Other prominent people in the sport to have recently made similar comments are US PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, Augusta National Golf Club chairman Billy Payne and world number two Phil Mickelson.
Golf was one of five sports – along with karate, roller sports, squash, and rugby – that applied for one of two spots in the 2012 London Olympic programme after baseball and softball were voted out.
But it was knocked out after three rounds of voting, and the two sports that advanced to the final stage of the process – karate and squash – both failed to win the two-thirds majority needed for inclusion in the Olympic line-up.
The last time golf was in the Olympics was in 1904, when Canadian George Lyon won gold. – AFP
Malaysia lose opening tie
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia were beaten 3-0 by Ireland in their opening match of the Olympic women's hockey qualifying tournament in Victoria, Canada, on Saturday.
Ireland, who are ranked 18th in the world, earned the win over Malaysia with goals by Clare Parkhill (21st), Eimear Cregan (30th) and Cathy McKean (40th).
The 25th ranked Malaysian, who are competing in the Olympic qualifying tournament for the first time, will play against eighth-ranked South Korea in their next match.
The Koreans got off to an explosive start, hammering Uruguay 10-0. In the other match of the six-team tournament, which offers only one ticket to the Beijing Games, Italy defeated Canada 2-1.
As the 100-day countdown begins
OLYMPIC officials insist that the world's best athletes will get a top-level Games in Beijing in August, despite controversy currently swirling around the event.
The Beijing Olympic organising committee, working on preparations for the Games for the past seven years, has earned unstinting praise from the Swiss-based International Olympic Committee (IOC).
“There is every reason to believe that a gold medal performance is in their grasp and that the world will marvel at superb Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Hein Verbruggen, a senior IOC member,
“Here and there are small details to be fine-tuned, but I am saying that the level of preparedness is really excellent,’’ said IOC president Jacques Rogge.
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